Wind and Wuthering by Genesis was featured 4 years ago here but I had since rediscussed this album for my YouTube channel. Go check it out. Subscribe for more stuff.
This is the continuation of a series of posts – select Category LIFE AS A BAND MEMBER to read in sequence.
You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best, the Hottest Band in Killeen – LEAF!
Dennis (deceased) and I formed our first band while still in high school during our senior year, if I remember correctly. It was formed with my other high school best friend, Bill O. (deceased), a friend from our church youth group, Howard and, to round things out, a guitarist named Bill L.
It didn’t matter that Bill O. had never sung before, at all. It didn’t matter that Howard had never picked up a bass, much less a guitar. It didn’t matter that Bill L. had only occasionally played the drums. We were all virgins when it came to making music as a band. We were going to take on the local music scene and kick ass. But first, we needed a band name, and we needed to be able to play songs in a coherent manner.
We called ourselves LEAF. Capital letters. I don’t remember who came up with the name but I do remember us hanging around outside the Music Center on Fort Hood Texas throwing names out. We all liked KISS and so we wanted a short, simple name like that. So, we became LEAF that afternoon. It was an obvious reference to Marijuana which most of us had partaken. Black Sabbath had a song called Sweet Leaf and we knew what they were singing about so we hoped people got the meaning.
As mentioned before, LEAF consisted of Dennis and I on guitars. We were still learning our instruments. Howard, who was also new to his instrument, was on bass. On drums was guitarist Bill L. who we had met and befriended at the Music Center. Bill L. was a guitar player, but since there always seemed to be hundreds of guitar players at the Music Center, he started playing drums just so he could sit in and jam with people. He could keep a fairly simple beat, so all our songs we learned were pretty basic stuff. During this time, neither Dennis nor I thought of ourselves as singers, so we got my high school best friend, Bill O., to sing with us. He had never sang in a band or really in front of anyone. We should’ve called ourselves The Virgins. We certainly were clueless on amps and sound systems and making music as a band. It was an adventure I cherish and will never forget.
We would meet at the Music Center because none of us owned amps, Howard didn’t own a bass at the time and Bill L. did not own drums of any kind. Of course none of us owned a sound system or microphones. We would meet every weekend and rent equipment that was set up in a sound proof room. The equipment was beat up and abused but still worked to our basic needs the time. We would practice all day. We would go in the morning when the center first opened, rent a room and practice for couple of hours, then take a break and go eat lunch together. We were our own little gang. We felt invincible. We would return to the Music Center and get back in our soundproof room and practice the rest of the afternoon. Things got even more real when we started having girlfriends come hang out and listen to us. wow, we had groupies. It was a wonderful time of my life.
We started learning songs. Two songs exactly. They were KISS’s Strutter and the Rolling Stones Jumping’ Jack Flash. I don’t remember learning any other songs with LEAF. Of course we could jam on other songs and I recall us doing extended jams on the simple chords of Chicago’s 25 or 6 to 4. I think everyone at the Music Center knew that jam. It would result in a never ending jam of various guitarist playing lead over those simple three chords. No one ever sang during these jams and we certainly didn’t have horns to accompany us.
LEAF diligently learned our two songs. Bill O. learned the words, Howard did his best to learn the bass and Bill L. kept a simple beat, nothing fancy. Dennis taught me the chords for the songs which were so similar that it was a not difficult to master. Dennis went on to learn the leads as best he could. From those two songs a bond was formed between Dennis and I. Our future roles were solidified. I was always a rhythm guitarist to Dennis’ lead guitar. I was completely happy with that and I miss that. Later, we would both take on singing chores and more songs, but that comes later.
It was time for LEAF to play in front of people. The story continues next week.
This is the continuation of a series of posts – select Category LIFE AS A BAND MEMBER to read in sequence.
As of the post, it has been four years and seven months since they found Dennis’ body sitting on his couch in the living room of his Sachse Texas home. Robbie, his little brother, found Dennis that Wednesday morning when he dropped by to check up on him. At the time, I was sitting in a conference room at work in the middle of a meeting when I received a text from a mutual friend, Steve, on my phone. I was shocked. I had to leave the meeting and sequester myself in my office so I could digest what the text said. I cried. I called Steve back and he verbally confirmed that Dennis, my friend since tenth grade, was dead.
My life with Dennis was defined by our love for the same music, guitars, and a very similar sense of humor. We worked hard to make each other laugh.
I met Dennis in the Fall of 1997, my eleventh grade year of high school. We met during a Geometry class at Killeen High School (KHS) in Killeen Texas. We were both sitting in the back of the class. We were both Army brats. While my family lived on the army base, Fort Hood, his family lived in Killeen. We got to talking and soon realized that we both loved the same rock bands and from that point on we were best buddies. It helped a lot that we had a Geometry teacher that would allow us to decorate the classroom with pictures of our favorite guitarist from our favorite rock bands. Pictures torn out of the latest rock magazines. Pictures of Alex Lifeson and Angus Young were prominently displayed above the chalk board.
The biggest commonality that bound Dennis and I for life was the guitar. He had taken up guitar and was learning how to play where as, I had taken guitar lessons one summer after sixth grade and knew some chords and how to tune a guitar. It had been many years since I had played but Dennis’ enthusiasm inspired me to pick up my guitar and seriously learn how to play again.
During that whole spring semester we would talk about music, guitars and sometimes Geometry. Dennis would come to class with new guitar knowledge to impart to me. Using his arm as a guitar fretboard, he would show me how to play the latest barre chords he had learned. I had never learned such chords in my beginning guitar lessons. All I knew was basic open strumming chords used by folk guitarist. Barre chords were rock. Barre chords were an epiphany. It was like learning the secrets of the universe. The clouds parted and a new understanding of songs was gained. Barre chords were what all our favorite bands used to play their songs.
Our Geometry classmates looked at us with amusement as we would grab our right arms with our left hands and play out the sequence of chords from a favorite song as we pretended to play the guitar. I learned quite a lot of songs this way from Dennis. Before long, I realized I needed an electric guitar, my acoustic guitar was not going to cut it. So, with Dennis in tow, we visited a pawn shop in Killeen and I bought a cheap, very cheap, electric guitar. From that point on it was destiny that we start a band. How could we not. We graduated from the back of a classroom jamming on our fretboard arms to actually playing our instruments through rented amplifiers with other people at a place called the music center on Fort Hood.
This story continues next week.
This week’s posting is very personal and is a video I made for my family. Enjoy this history lesson of our relationship.
I am in retirement pre-launch. I am on the launch pad ready to take off.
First let me give you my definition of Official Retirement. Retirement is
As of this blog posting I would consider myself in pre-retirement. I no longer have income from a job but I am not receiving monies from social security or a retirement savings account. I am on the launch pad though, ready for take off. The countdown has started:
FIVE> I’ve been getting a pension for years now. It’s a really nice chunk of money.
FOUR> I’ve set up my annuity payment and I received my first payment January 23rd. It’s not much but it will cover a couple of bills.
THREE> I’ve set up Social Security payments finally. After playing phone tag with my case worker, we finally connected, cleared up the questions and I have now gotten the official letter saying approved. My first payment will be on March 14 and it’s a pretty decent payout.
TWO> I’ve set up medical, dental and vision insurance and have already paid two months of premiums.
Combine the annuity, pension and SSA, I’ve got a nice little base nest before pulling from my retirement accounts.
ONE> I have set up quarterly payments from my Individual Retirement Account (IRA). That first withdrawal is March 1st. Based on my savings withdrawal needs, I believe I can pull from that IRA for 5 years before having to touch my 401K (the big money pool) for living expenses. Not to mention the wife has her IRA.
BLASTOFF! Set for March 1st.
As both me and my wife get on Medicare, reducing health insurance costs, our expenses will continue to go down each year. And she will start receiving social security payments next year which will add a nice extra chunk of money. With the diminishing expenses and, hopefully, the stock market continuing to grow, my 401K should sustain us until we pass from this earth.
At this point we have been living on residual paychecks from my ex-company and part of our existing savings. January and February have been on those two pools of money and a couple of annuity and pension payments but it’s time. It’s time to Blastoff into Retirement and see how my financial plan works.
Check out my YouTube Channel video where I discuss this further.
Pretty sure you’ve never heard of Mother’s Finest. If you have please comment. I had never heard of them until I was scouting for a gift for my best friend Bill in 1979. As I’ve mentioned before, Bill and I were always trying to surprise and impress each other with new band finds (see Vinyl of the Month – American Tears) and I ran across this live album, the cover caught my eye. So I bought it and presented it to Bill for Christmas.
Bill gave me a Hendrix album. I think Electric Ladyland. Needless to say, he was not impressed with my gift and pointed out that he had gotten me a Hendrix album and I bought him some unknown funk band. He didn’t like it, and he pissed me off. So I kept the Mother’s Finest album and his Hendrix gift. It didn’t affect our friendship.
Mother’s Finest is an American band out of Atlanta Georgia. They formed in 1970 and they are still around. The Live album came out in 1979. I had bought it without even hearing what it sounded like until Bill opened it and we listened to it. I liked it. I like Funk (Parliament, etc.) and there was a strong rock/metal influence in there too. My favorite song is Mickey’s Monkey. I went out and bought their third album Another Mother Further which came out in 1977 and has Mickey’s Monkey on it.
Mother’s Finest is still around as of this posting. Check them out. They are touring. Their last album, Goody 2 Shoes & the Filthy Beast, was put out in 2015. Nothing since then.
I chose Mother’s Finest Live by Mother’s Finest for Vinyl of the Month based on the memory of that 1979 Christmas with Bill and our gift exchange. Sadly, Bill is no longer with us. But many of the albums in my collection remind me of him and our high school years and our friendship.
I’m a routine person. I like my routine, I like a process. I’m a task checker. When I don’t have a routine I’m at odds with myself. It doesn’t feel right. There is imbalance in the force, if you know what I mean.
I’m retired now and retirement does not lend itself to routine. At least not at this point in my retirement. I am 4 weeks into retirement and I’ve yet to establish a rhythm, a routine, a process. it’s causing me a small level of anxiety. In my previous life, a time I have now coined Before Retirement, or B.R., I had a distinct routine . Up at 7:30, shower, dress, breakfast and on the road by 8:30, at work by 9:00. First cup of coffee around 9:15, bathroom break and second cup of coffee at 10:30, lunch at 12:30 at my desk for about 30 minutes. Then work until 3:30, leave for home to avoid rush hour, get home at 4:00 and log back into work until 6:00. That was my days Monday through Thursday. It rarely changed.
That’s me. Mr. Routine. Here is a list of items that have become routine so far:
At the moment there are two items that are giving me anxiety and keeping me from settling into a routine:
So you see Retirement Ain’t Easy. Once I get those two nagging items “in process” I can then concentrate on enjoying retirement and making my hobbies a priority – songwriting, learning the harmonica, playing an acoustic gig somewhere, toy photography, getting proficient on my electronic drums, completing the pool deck that is half done.
Lots of things to keep me busy. go check out my YouTube channel – RETIREMENT AIN’T EASY – for a more in depth discussion on routine and my issues and hobbies. Check out my latest video.
Here I am 3 weeks into retirement and still getting used to the idea that every day is a Saturday. It is Monday and I’m at Mom’s in Mississippi because when you don’t have to go to work, why not take a 500 mile trip to spend a week with your Mom? So we loaded up the truck and came over last Friday.
This morning I slept until 9:30 AM because last night we went to the coast, Gulfport Mississippi, to a casino. It is an hour drive to the coast and I gave the slot machines the $200 I brought with me. We left the casino around 12:30ish and got home around 1:30 in the morning. I’m retired but I don’t have to go to work. Usually on a Sunday night I would have my work anxiety kick in. You know the one where you realize the weekend is over and you start thinking about all the tasks you need to complete during the coming work week and all the “special people” you will have to deal with. You know the ones. No work anxiety last night. Anxiety now revolves around what to do with my retirement time. If you are not doing something or planning to do something you get that feeling of wasting time. I need to relax and enjoy.
So, I sit here in my Mom’s TV watching room asking myself, what ARE you going to do today? Let’s run down the list of things I can do here at Mom’s in Mississippi.
Maybe I should get a couple of dice and roll and pick one of the numbers above. That sounds like a good idea. <dice roll>. A Five. Looks like I will be going to Books-a Million today. In addition #11 is a high priority to keep the YouTube channel rolling. You haven’t visited my YouTube channel? Get on over to Retirement Ain’t Easy right now.
Go check out my YouTube channel – Retirement Ain’t Easy – and my latest video of my Field Trip to the Social Security office.
I’m retired. Retirement means a lot of things, but for many of us in the United States it means Social Security benefits. (payments) Under normal circumstances you can’t collect social security benefits until you reach the age of at least 62 years old. I’m 62.
The moment I started planning for retirement (about 3 years ago) I started looking into the Social Security Administration (SSA) and what it means to me. Here is a list of things I have learned as of this posting.
That is my knowledge thus far. I am on Step 2, “application under review”. So I am waiting and hoping my first payment gets set up for February 14 (2nd Wednesday of the month). Otherwise I will have to wait until the 2nd Wednesday in March. Fingers crossed.
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Retirement Ain't Easy 